HistoryLink.org

In 1934, the McMillin Bridge, a reinforced-concrete truss bridge spanning the Puyallup River, opens in Pierce County. Engineer Homer Hadley (1885-1967) of the Portland Cement Association suggested its innovative design. The bridge carries State Route 162 across the river.

The bridge was built during the lean years of the Great Depression after an old steel span was washed out in a 1933 flood. State engineers asked for bids for a replacement bridge and Homer Hadley's reinforced-concrete truss structure, with pier columns of hollow-box construction came in $826 cheaper than the cheapest steel span.

The bridge's main span is 170 feet long and at the time it was the longest reinforced-concrete truss or beam span in the nation.

Sources: Craig Holstine and Richard Hobbs, Spanning Washington: Historic Highway Bridges of the Evergreen State (Pullman: WSU Press, 2005), 205-206; "Historic Bridges" Washington State Department of Transportation website accessed September 12, 2007 (http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Environment/CulRes/bridges.htm#top); Wm. Michael Lawrence, "McMillin Bridge (Puyallup River Bridge)," August 1993, Historic American Engineering Record (HAER No. WA-73), Library of Congress American Memory website accessed March 20, 2005 (http://memory.loc.gov).
Note: This essay was emended on February 11, 2016, to correct an error repeated through several sources. The bridge is not a concrete-box structure but rather a reinforced-concrete truss. The pier columns are hollow-box construction but not the truss members. Thanks to Craig Holstine, WSDOT bridge history specialist, for this correction.

Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact the source noted in the image credit.

Major Support for HistoryLink.org Provided By: The State of Washington | Patsy Bullitt Collins | Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Museum Of History & Industry | 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax Revenue) | City of Seattle | City of Bellevue | City of Tacoma | King County | The Peach Foundation | Microsoft Corporation, Other Public and Private Sponsors and Visitors Like You